Ravellenic Games 2012

My hardcore training will start soon.

The swatches.

The project is ambitious this year.

A virtual sort of cheering squad may be necessary.

Many times I have tried and many times I have failed at medaling in the Sweater competition.

This year I'm determined: I shant fail again.

Ravellenic 2012 Sweater Triathalon.

The Wrapped Pullover from atelier alpha will look glorious under a gold medal.

Pocket on the side for a medal is a plus.

Madelinetosh Tosh Chunky in a color way called Forestry will provide maximum delight for knitter and spectators alike.

A dash of negative ease.

A dose of a road trips. One driven, one drive.

Challenge: event on the last weekend of the Olympics.





PassionKNITly, indeed.

What I Took Away From the Swap

I was pretty good at the swap last weekend. I brought a lot of stash yarn (I realized I brought quite a bit more than I actually listed), and a lot of it magically went away! The key to swaps is that you should always bring back less than you take with you. For this swap, I really wasn't in much danger of taking back more than I brought with me, but since I'm moving at the end of July, I really was trying to take as little as possible.

That being said, of course I fell to a few pretties:


Some sort of lace weight silk. I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, but it sure is pretty and soft.


Twisted Fiber Art's Kabam! yarn in Giles colorway. This might turn into a really pretty scarf, or, more likely since it stripes, it might turn into a nifty pair of socks. Maybe Rick from Cookie A's Sock Innovation (I'm kind of addicted to her book right now).

I also picked up some of my friend Malia's handspun yarn:

(click on the images to make them bigger on flickr)

At the party, we also dyed yarn. It was my first time dying at all, and I was really impressed with how the wool yarn took the dye. The yarn I dyed was leftover from my Over the Knee Stockings (the successful ones - Malia dyed the yarn I used for the unsuccessful ones). There's a before and after shot at the end of the post. First, we soaked the yarn to get it ready to take all the dye.

v
The Louet Gems I used is at the bottom of the pot.


I used the Mango Kool-Aid to get an orangey color.


Isn't it pretty!?

Here's that comparative shot I was telling you about.


I think I figured out a way to re-invent my knitting blog. Before Ravelry I used to post all sorts of project stuff. Since Ravelry, however, all of that goes onto Ravelry and then there's not much else to post about. I do a fair amount of fiber artsy stuff, so I think from now on this blog is going to be more about all other yarny stuff I do. Like the dying and swap party, moving the stash, knitterly books I read (I recently read Sweater Quest and rather loved it, so a review of that will be coming up soon), event recaps and such. What do you think of that? I guess if I have issues with knitting I'll still be posting them here, or any triumphs and stuff like that. I'm just having an issue keeping up with knitting and posting about knitting. Posting about knitting actually takes up knitting time, so I think I'll get back to the knitting now, and come back later with a book review!

My Knitting Olympics Project = Finished!

Green TYC = Done. I used the same exact buttons on this sweater as I did on the red Tangled Yoke Cardigan I made a couple of years ago, just in a nice kahki color.



I haven't tried it on really yet, so I'm not sure if it fits. I think it might be a little too big because I think my gauge was a bit off. No doubt there will be more photos once I've worn it. :)

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Question now is, what do I knit now!? I've got a Seraphim shawl on my needles, I haven't finished the bucket hat I started (mostly because I"m terrified it's going to be too big!) and I'm thinking it will be too warm soon to knit the Malabrigo Blanket. So I'm thinking of casting on something new.

I have a sock that Bev knit a while ago. I got both the sock and the yarn for the second sock. I really could use a pair of black and grey socks.

At the same time, I do have this lovely Madelinetosh DK yarn. And I'd love to knit Ingenue out of it from Custom Knits.

Wednesday night I'm going to Jersey for a business trip and I have another this weekend to Boca. I think I could probably finish that one sock during one or both of those trips, but then I'd have all that extra time without a project, so I'm leaning towards Ingenue. I'm having a bit of trouble getting gauge though. If I can't get gauge, I might just bring the sock and the Seraphim Shawl so my bases are covered.

4th Place

The worst place to come in, because it means you were close, but you couldn't quite make it. It means you totally don't get a medal even though you're heroic, and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what place I'd come in if I were to compete in anything Olympic-wise.

I turned to Stan and I said, "maybe I just don't have the focus one needs to be an Olympian." He didn't say anything, because he's an amazing boyfriend, and gave the best consolation hug after I realized I had totally failed at medalling.

Here's the progress as Jacques Rogge announced the games were officially ended:



So what the hell happened? It seemed like I could totally do this, why didn't I?

The ribbing directions at the bottom.
I knew they were different, I thought I'd figured them out and written them down. I might have, but I probably did so in a notebook that is long gone. I had noted where to decrease on the back of the photocopy of the pattern. I remembered having issues with the ribbing at the bottom, but I was convinced that those directions I'd written were the revised directions because why else would I keep the pattern. They weren't. I followed them blindly, even when Beth told me it could be the ribbing patterning, I was convinced my problem was my gauge. It wasn't. I lost a day to swatching on several different sized needles, and made Stan drive me to brooklyn to get said needles (No really, he's a sport and a catch. And no, you can't have him, he's mine!).
My inability to concentrate on charts.
I had to rip back the first two rows twice because I couldn't get the right number of stitches between the 1 into 5 increases. I had to put stitch markers after every repeat so I didn't get confused, but I did anyway. I kept forgetting to mirror the cabling, so the chart took me way longer than it should have.
Plain poor planning.
Before the Ravelympics, Knitting Olympics or what have you, I made plans with Stan and our friends to visit MOMA for the Tim Burton Exhibit. I just neglected to look at the date and to register that it was the Saturday before Closing Ceremonies. :/ If I'd had that one more solid day of knitting, I think I totally would have finished.

Sigh. At least I have most of a nifty Tangled Yoke Cardigan done and I might even get it done sometime this week.

Problems of Olympic Proportions

I'm knitting the Tangled Yoke Cardigan out of Rowan Felted Tweed for my Ravelympics/ Knitting Olympics project.

I knit this project originally in 2008 on size 4 needles with the same yarn (red instead of the nifty green I'm working on currently). All of my project notes tell me that I knit this project with size 4 needles. That makes sense since I tend to knit rather loosely. Maybe I'm more stressed, but when I measured the project after row 29 when I was supposed to have 6 3/4" Instead, I have 5 1/4". I'm using the same needles. So here's the gauge comparison:

The pattern says: 24sts & 36 rows = 4" square.
My project says: 28 sts & 33 rows

This makes me think that I'm knitting entirely too tightly. I am kinda stressed, so maybe that's where this is coming from. I have a set of size 6 needles with me, so I'm thinking of (sigh) casting on again and going at it with the size 6 needles instead. But I'm wondering if I should step up to a size 5 first. I don't know, what do you folks think?

I was doing so well too, so I'm terribly bummed. :(

Preparing for the Knitting Olympics

Ravelry is amazing.

I knew I'd done a few mods for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan (Ravelry link) when I made it the first time. I remember that I needn't have elongated the sleeves, however, I didn't remember the other mods I made on the sweater. So I looked the project up on Ravelry.



The plethora of information and its importance is amazing. :) In order to complete this project, I think the important thing is to avoid the snags. The pattern is pretty well written, but I remember making notes as to which rows I needed to increase or decrease on, and I think that prep work will make the whole sweater kind of of fly - which is exactly what it's going to need to do in order to get done by the end of the olympics. It seems like the only major mod is adding a full inch to the ribbing at the bottom, which will be fine and simple.

The yarn comes in balls, which is awesome because it means I don't have to wind up all the balls before I start on Friday. I also bought some buttons for some Hoots (Ravelry Link) I made last year that don't fit the hoots. I'm contemplating using them for the sweater. They're simple white abalone buttons. I might head over to M&J on Wednesday to see if they have another button I'd like to use. I'm thinking of using a kahki version of the buttons I used for the last TYC might be nice (I really liked those buttons).

So, I'm feeling pretty well prepared. Everything's all ready to go after I copy the pattern and make notations.

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So I'm viewing this weekend as the trials.

I've got a bit more than half a sock left to go in these Spiral Sparkly Boot Socks from Interweave's Summer 2007 issue. I found that the chart for the instep is written totally backwards and makes the spiral go in the opposite direction. No one had noted this in their notes, which I was pretty surprised about. So I made a comment on the main pattern page on Ravelry and noted it down on my project page. Those kinds of things are so frustrating. There wasn't any errata or anything! I had to rip back 3"! Other than that, the pattern is fun and flies pretty quickly, even though they're knee socks! I can't wait to wear them! It's been pretty cold here. I'm hoping that I can get them done this weekend - and with time at the accountant and the Superbowl, I think I'll be able to get that done.

Maybe then I'll have time to knit a new hat for winter before the Olympics...

Yarn 365 Is A Month Old!

That's the most recent yarn photo which looks way better on the Yarn 365 Blog. I want to thank Illanna for helping me out with the project the week I was in London. I think the photos I've been taking of yarn have gotten better recently because of the constant practice. Hopefully that will be helpful with regards to other aspects of photography.

If anyone else is interested in photography like I am, I just found this awesome group on Ravelry: Yarnographers. They have photo assignments every now and again, and I might be taking part in some of them to keep myself challenged while doing the Yarn365 project

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Oh, and just one other thing: I'm loving that the yarnharlot's 365 calendar that Beth gave me last year for Christmas has a note for a Nonknitter Who Loves a Knitter up today. I know it's recycled from a book, but it's the most thoughtful thing ever. Also, since it's written like a note, it's perfect to leave lying around *someone's* house. You could even make copies of it and leave it lying around multiple houses! :-o

I'm noticing that there are a ton of 2010 kntiting/yarny calendars out there. I might have to review them at some point.

Halvsies Pattern on Ravelry!

Since my Halvsies pattern wasn't accepted by Berroco for their contest, I'm publishing it on my own, with Ravelry's help! click on the link below to download it!


Ravelry says that you can use that link to download the pattern even if you don't have a Ravelry account. Though, the Ravelry link for the pattern is here

I'll remind you as to what the Halvsies look like with a couple of glamor shots:





If you remember, I knit these last year for my brother's girlfriend. She loves them, and I wanted a pair to wear at work. I knit a pair out of Berocco Sox Metallic for their contest, but didn't manage to make it to the voting part. Now, I want to knit another pair so I can have a pair at work still! They're knit from the toe up to the heel and bound off loosely with Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pattern, and if you have any issues, drop me a line on Ravelry!

While I Swatch...

Now, you see, I'm living in the Devil's Playground.

I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard NYC called such. But for a hardcore Red Sox fan like myself, well, that's exactly what's going on. If you remember, I knit a pair of Red Sox socks for my friend, Beth. They looked like this:



Well, I actually wrote up the pattern! It's up for free on Ravelry! You can add it to your queue, download it, and check out the pattern on Ravelry!

Ravelry in the News!

Well, I heard from twitter, but if you don't twitter, check out the NY Observer's article on Ravelry here.

My only comment would be that I don't really agree with them saying that we users call it "facebook for knitters." It's really not. It's much more hardworking. I doubt any other hobby has a similar networking site. I have a Shelfari page and while I can connect with other people that read, it just seems so much less interactive in a way. Maybe that's because reading exists so much in my head that I have a hard time connecting with others (or vice versa) about the things I read. It's a lot easier to chat while knitting than it is for me to chat while reading.

It's probably actually better for me that there isn't any iPhone app for Ravelry. I'm sure my battery would die so hardcore.

After Memorial Day, it's time for more socks!

Claudine and I decided to do a Sock off. I have a rather competitive streak as some as you may know. And once when Claudine and I were comparing sock yarn stashes, my competitive streak decided to show itself and the First Annual Sock Off was born.

The Sock Off will run from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The idea is to knit the most socks between the two of us in that amount of time. Socks will be awarded points on the following critera, and they'll be weighed afterwards (Claudine says her feet are bigger than mine, so this is an attempt at making it even)

• 1 point for a heel flap


• 1 point for a short row heel


• 1 point for a cable pattern


• 1 point for a lace pattern


• 1 point for a patterned heel


• 1 point for short row toes

Other points will be added as needed. Can you think of any that are missing?
The winner will get bragging rights and a sock yarn of her choosing from the loser. I think there should be a certificate involved as well...but we'll see to that later. :)

Really, it's anyone's game. I actually don't have a ton of traveling going on in June. July, with San Diego Comic Con might help give me a boost, but it's possible that I'll just be so exhausted from working the show that I'll come back to just pass out in my hotel room sans knitting.

So, I think the first pair of socks that I'm going to work on for the Sock Off will be the Over the Knee Stockings from Handknit Holidays (Ravelry Pattern Link). I've got new yarn (Louet Gems in a nice cream color), and a new understanding of the pattern (from having done it a couple times before and failing). I understand that I have to make the sock a few stitches wider to cover my thigh and that it also needs to be about four pattern repeats longer than the pattern specifies. Now that I'm writing that, I hope I have enough yarn. The strategy is that even if I dont' complete the pair by the end of the summer, I'll have knit so much on these socks that when weighed they'll out-match my competitor. mwa ha ha!

RHINEBECK Recap

I have quite a bit of work to do, don't I? God, what happened to October!? I think I'm so swept up in my BOSOX playing in the world series and RHINEBECK.

So I fixed the Berkshire pullover, but I don't have any new photos of it. I assure you it's done though. I started it three times in three different sizes. I did each sleeve twice - one because I cast on too few stitches the first time, and the other because my row gauge was a bit off. And I undid the neck and re-did it so it was in the middle of the sweater instead of off to the side.

The monkey socks are pretty much the same as they were when I showed them to you in the beginning of the month. I haven't done anything with them because I've been working on placemats for friends who got married in May. I realize I have a year after the wedding to get them done, but I'd really rather get them done sooner rather than later. My conscience was getting to me, so I started them.


I'm knitting four of them out of King Tut Cotton on size five Denises. One's done, one's almost done, and then I'll only have two more to knit. They're taking me about a week each to complete, which means I knit faster than I thought I did. :)

But what you really want is a RHINEBECK recap right?
Our NYC SNB gals holed up at Blogless Jill's parents' summer home for the weekend where we battled fruit flies, watched Hitchcock movies and knit our hearts out. THANKS TO JILL'S MOM FOR LETTING US STAY THERE!!!!

I did most of my buying the first day. I fought my way in and found some appropriate STR, then I stood in a line about three booths long to pay. This is what I came out with:


STR Medium weight yarn in Carbon Dating color-way.

After wandering around a bit, I also found some nice roving. I looked at it. I felt it. I coveted it. I bought it.


I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect it's some sort of silk/merino blend. It was way cheaper than buying yarn! I was surprised. After that, Michelle was kind enough to wander around with me a bit to find a nice drop spindle.

I met up with a lot of awesome bloggers and folks on Ravelry. Met a bunch of people I probably wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't done the Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo.

Later on that day, I found some fabulous wool to knit the Spiral Pullover in.


Doesn't look like much does it? It's only about 1500 yards of Falkland Wool I got from Ellen's 1/2 Pint farm!

That evening, Blogless Johanna taught some of us how to crochet!


I think I actually got it!

So we went to bed, and woke up the next day ready to head back to the Sheep and Wool Festival. This time, I decided I wanted to focus on the animals. After buying a few buttons from Briar Rose Fibers



I managed to find a bit more roving that struck my fancy


This stuff isn't as slippery as the other roving I bought, so I'm hoping it will be easier to learn with.

We went to the Alpaca and Llama jumping contest, then pet some of the sheep



And I saw a really elaborate Mohair Throw:


psst! That's a real mohair goat!

We wandered on over to the author tent to see if I could get the Yarn Harlot to sign Claudine's copy of her newest book. I had a moment of weakness. I don't have much more room for books on my Knitting shelf. In fact, I would say I have NO MORE room for books anywhere in my apartment. I still collect them though, and so, obviously, I had to buy Clara Parkes' new book The Knitter's Book of Yarn. I also had to have her sign this book.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful trip. there was apple crisp and apple ceider consumed. Famous bloggers like Kate Gilbert and January One were noticed. People seemed to have a fun time, and I walked away with some awesome yarn. For a weekend in which i probably had about the the maturity of a six year old, I'd like to thank my fellow SNBers for letting me be the goofy comic relief of the weekend! <3 you gals!!!

The dangers of Ravelry

Not only will Ravelry suck a lot of your time starting it up and getting yourself organized, uploading your books, adding in all your photos for your projects, adding your stash, finding friends on it, etc. But, the friends you find on Ravelry will more than likely add blogs to your list - adding time to your normal blog regiment (not necessarily a negative thing).

Also, if you're like me, you'll be inpsired by tons of other things too...like this for example:


Combining this with watching Miami Ink for two hours on Tuesday, and I'm all sorts of ready for a new one!

Ravelry

I got my invite to Ravelry a couple weeks ago. It's awesome, seriously, I don't mean to brag, but if you're waiting for your invite, just know that it's well worth the wait!

They added a group section to it. I took the liberty of adding the NYC SNB to it, so if you're a member of the NYC SNB and you're on Ravelry already, join here. If you're not a member yet, check it out when you get on, and friend me, PassionKNITly!!

ETA: OMG! There's a Burning Man group on Ravelry!!!

woohoo!

So many things to be excited about!!

1) Someone from MAP Magazine in Germany requested the use of the image below for an article she's writing!



2) I have finished the Rhode Island Red Sox!!!



I really really liked this yarn and the weight (medium). I realized, however, that the toes of my socks should generally be a bit bigger. Especially after I had followed the directions incorrectly. I thought that I should have been kitchener stitching 32 stitches together, instead i was supposed to be kitchener stitching 16 stitches together (16 on each needle vs 16 altogether). So a new goal is to actually follow the directions when I get to the toe of a sock.

3) I started a Clapotis out of some Sweet Georgia that Blogless RUTH and I got at the same time at the Point. I don't have any photos of it yet because I put it on the backburner almost as soon as I've started (Ruth and I have an understanding).

4) Why did I put it on the backburner? I saw Coachella on the summer Knitty. At first I just saw it and realized that I had enough Berroco Touche in a nice red color to knit it with. Then, late thursday night/ early Friday morning, I decided that I'm going to Burning Man. Burning Man is a giant art festival thingey held in a desert in Nevada for a week. Obviously, knits are needed. Bright, summery, light, tank tops for a hot, Hot, HOT desert. I've even already started it:



5) I went out with Blogless RUTH and Ravi on Friday. I ended up coming back with too much yarn, and fabric!!


The mint Koigu was 40% off because there was only one left. It's going to turn into a pair of anklets. The yellow is destined to be the spiral knee socks from the Summer 07 issue of Interweave Knits.


You see, Ravi and I were only going to help Blogless Ruth pick out fabrics/colors for her quilting project at Purl Patchwork. I don't even have a sewing machine so I figured this would be safe. NOT SO! I found this mushroom fabric and simply HAD TO HAVE IT! When I go to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents, my grandmother's going to help me do the simple A line skirt pattern.

6) I got my Ravelry invite today!! I haven't started even setting up my profile or anything like that yet, but I'm really excited about it!! When I get it together, I'll let you all know!!